Dom & Roland - Aliens / Zodiac

Dom & Roland - Aliens / Zodiac
The combination of the words "unreleased dubplate," "techstep" and "Blue Note-era" are enough to make some drum & bass fans hot under the collar. Dom & Roland's new Dubs From The Dungeons series is an outlet for '90s productions that didn't make it into wider circulation. Aliens / Zodiac sounds apocalyptic, nuanced and seriously banging. It recalls an era when breaks and samples were distorted, filtered and resampled on clunky samplers and outboard mixers before being sequenced into complex, snaking structures. Top producers like Dom & Roland developed personalised sound signatures through exhaustive processing and programming, which made their tracks sonic calling cards. Even though it's angular, sometimes confrontational, music, these productions have a warmth that's different to the glassier sound of much modern day drum & bass.

From the frozen wail of its pads to the intricate clamour of its industrial breaks, "Aliens" has all the hallmarks of techstep. The paranoia dial is set to 11 from the start. Increasingly disturbing samples hiss and grind into view, evoking the movement of huge metallic structures. The atmospherics momentarily recede, offering a quick breath of fresh air before a distorted bassline rushes in to push you back under. "Zodiac" is just as toxic as the A-side—it sounds like musique concrète composed in a radiated sewer. Bright synth stabs offer a shred of light in the dark, but it's a red herring in a hostile, awe-inspiring landscape. Much of the heavy lifting falls on the breaks and morphing basslines, but this era of drum & bass still impresses with its evocative ambiences. The picture it paints is still alarming and vivid almost two decades later.